BankPlus Trust Department Has $19.07 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

BankPlus Trust Department grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,819 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,001 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.1% of BankPlus Trust Department’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. BankPlus Trust Department’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $478.11 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $488.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $503.66.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.89%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major analyst support remains intact — Jefferies reiterated a Buy on MSFT with a $675 target, and other firms (Wedbush, Scotiabank) continue positive stances, reinforcing a bullish long-term AI/cloud story. Microsoft’s (MSFT) AI Strategy Reinforces Its Position as a Long-Term Winner, Analyst Says
• Positive Sentiment: New commercial partnerships extend Copilot/Azure monetization paths — PayPal will power checkout in Copilot and Fiserv has an AI partnership to embed Microsoft tech, both help drive direct revenue/usage for Copilot and Azure. PayPal Teams With Microsoft to Power Checkout in Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Product momentum and enterprise demand remain strong — reporting around robust Azure demand, agentic AI tools for retail, and new robotics/automation partnerships that expand Azure’s TAM. These support revenue visibility and margin recovery as AI deployments scale. Microsoft Unleashes Agentic AI To Automate Every Corner Of Retail
• Neutral Sentiment: EU digital-rule update reportedly spares big tech from the strictest measures — less regulatory tightening would be neutral-to-positive for MSFT but it’s a policy development to monitor. Exclusive: Big Tech spared strict rules in EU digital rule overhaul, sources say
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst price-target consensus points to sizable upside (~30% mean) and multiple firms flag MSFT as a top AI play — bullish medium-term context but not an immediate catalyst. Wall Street Analysts Predict a 30.32% Upside in Microsoft (MSFT)
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings and corporate cadence — Microsoft announced its quarterly earnings date; previews suggest continued double‑digit growth expectations, making the report a potential near-term catalyst. Microsoft announces quarterly-earnings release date
• Negative Sentiment: Layoff rumors and cost worries have circulated (reports of thousands of cuts); Microsoft publicly pushed back calling some figures “100 percent made up,” but the rumor flow can pressure sentiment and drive short-term selling. “100 Percent Made Up”: Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Slips in Response to Layoff Rumors
• Negative Sentiment: Local opposition to a proposed data center in Michigan and broader community pushback could create PR/headwind risks and slow site builds — timing/permits matter for capacity expansion plans. Microsoft revealed as company behind controversial data center proposal in Michigan township
• Negative Sentiment: Legal exposure around OpenAI (lawsuit allowed to proceed to trial) is a reputational/legal risk given Microsoft’s close ties and investments in OpenAI. Elon Musk’s lawsuit accusing ChatGPT-maker OpenAI Of Betraying Its Nonprofit Mission Can Go To Trial, Judge Rules

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim set a $675.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Rothschild Redb downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $665.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $630.11.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).